Former Israeli security chiefs say Israel should offer to expel Hamas leaders in exchange for hostages

Commanders for Israel’s Security (CIS), a forum consisting of more than 500 former top military and security officials, are urging the Israeli government’s War Cabinet to offer expulsion to all Hamas top leaders and security prisoners in exchange for the release of all remaining Israeli hostages.

The proposal by CIS also emphasized unlimited humanitarian aid to Gaza but that no inflow of weapons would be permitted into the enclave.

“Israel should declare that upon acceptance of these terms and receipt of a complete list of hostages: The gates of Gaza will be open to unlimited humanitarian assistance, while weapon smuggling will be strictly prevented,” the CIS stated, adding that “during the Interim Period that follows intensive fighting, the IDF will deploy in a manner that enables Gaza reconstruction.”

Former IDF deputy chief ,Maj.-Gen. and CIS head Matan Vilnai, told the Jerusalem Post that while his organization sent a proposal, the Israeli government would need to work out the specific details concerning its potential implementation.

The proposal is reportedly inspired by Israel's offer in 1982 to PLO terror head Yasser Arafat while he and his forces were stationed at the Lebanese capital Beirut. In the end, Israeli forces withdrew from Beirut in exchange for the expulsion and free passage for Arafat and thousands of PLO terrorist operatives who moved to Tunisia.

Vilnai emphasized that the Israeli government would need to ultimately decide on how many Hamas terrorists would be offered free passage from the Gaza Strip to an unspecified destination. In addition, it is currently unclear whether Islamic Jihad terror commanders and operatives would be included in such agreement.

The overall purpose of the CIS proposal is reportedly to bridge the gap between Israel’s allegedly contradictory goals of eliminating Hamas while simultaneously securing the release of the remaining Israeli and international hostages. Some domestic and international critics argue that these goals are mutually exclusive. The CIS proposal could be seen as a middle ground solution to simultaneously release the hostages, while removing Hamas from the Gaza Strip.

However, the Palestine Liberation Organization remained a threat even after the expulsion from Lebanon in 1982. It is, therefore, unlikely the Hamas threat would be defused by simply expelling Hamas terrorists from the Gaza Strip. If accepted by both sides, it is still unclear where Hamas terrorists would go to.

Hamas terror chiefs have close ties with Turkey, Qatar, Iran and Lebanon, however, it is unclear whether Israel would permit Hamas officials to move to one of these countries, which are all hostile towards the Jewish state.

Addressing the post-Hamas period, the proposal stresses the need for a regional Arab and international involvement in the rebuilding process of the Gaza Strip: “Israel will cooperate with and assist an international, Arab-regional, and Palestinian effort to establish a mechanism that will assume responsibility for the management, demilitarization and rehabilitation of the Strip, all under U.S. leadership.”

In early December, the Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. and Israeli officials discussed the issue of mass exile for Hamas terrorists to end the war with less bloodshed. It is unclear how many terrorists would be involved in such potential deal. While Israel says it has killed at least 7,000 Hamas operatives, the terror organization reportedly has between 20,000 and 30,000 members.